State Champs: White Pigeon wins Division 4 golf title

Heading into Saturday's final round of the Division 4 state golf meet, the White Pigeon Chiefs were right where they wanted to be.

They sat in third place, just seven shots back of first place Charlevoix.

“I really feel good about where we are at,” coach Mark Olsen said Friday.

Saturday they overcame the seven-shot deficit to win the tournament by nine strokes, bringing home the championship trophy.

“The kids were relaxed, we got off to a good start and put pressure on the teams ahead of us,” Mark Olsen said. “And they (other teams) didn't do well and we played well. Every time I gave them a report you could see the other team start to shrink down, our kids were ready.”

White Pigeon shot a two-day score of 654. In second were Charlevoix and Lincoln Alcona, both at 663, North Muskegon was fourth at 665 and in fifth was Oakland Christian with a score of 668.

Kalamazoo Hackett was tied for seventh at 673 and in 14th was Gobles at 736.

Saturday's score of 326 was a season’s best for White Pigeon, besting Friday's score of 328.

“I couldn't be any happier for these guys right now. I can tell you the emotions were running high all weekend­­ and at the end of the day today there were tears of joy all over the place,” Mark Olsen said. “It's such a relief when it is all over that the emotions just pour out and you just kind of go numb.”

Leading the Chiefs was Riley Olsen, who finished the tournament in sixth place with a two-day score of 157.

“Actually being down was a blessing, you don't want to be in first or second place,” Riley Olsen said. “If you asked them, they wouldn’t be happy, the way it happened. Chase (older brother) told me before today that we are the hunters, they are the hunted.”

Mark Olsen added that heading into the day, Riley wanted to keep the ball in the fairway and hit the greens.

“Riley played a great round today. He played a very intelligent round and stuck to his game plan,” Mark Olsen said. “Every time I saw him he looked like he was playing for a par round or better. Finishing in the top 10 individually is a major accomplishment and one that he is very proud of.”

Carding a 165 two-day score was Jordan Olsen. He shot 81 on Saturday.

“Jordan played a very good round today from tee to green,” Mark Olsen said. “The putting green was definitely not his friend this weekend. I give him a lot of credit for keeping his composure when things were not going well.”

Page 2 of 3 - Andrew Mann shot 82 Saturday after a 76 on Friday.

“Andrew played another absolutely brilliant round of golf and earned a top 10 finish individually, which was a huge honor for him,” Mark Olsen said. “He was on cruise control from the start to the very last hole.

“If you are going to win a State Championship you have to have players step up and have a career day and Andrew did just that,” Mark Olsen added.

Cory Snook has had a dream of playing for a championship ever since he picked up a club four years ago as a freshmen.

“This is really fun, winning a State Championship,” Snook said. “I told coach four years ago that I wanted to win a State Championship and here I am, holding a State Championship trophy.”

Christian Ryall-Shoup had a two-day score of 174, shooting 87 both days.

“Christian played incredible golf under pressure,” Mark Olsen said. “He knew that he was going to be a key to the success of the team.”

Also for the Chiefs was Jack Tippman, who shot 104 Saturday and Snook, who shot 104 on Friday.

The Chiefs ended their season with a record of 100-15.

“This season far exceeded my wildest dreams of what I thought we would accomplish, nothing short of an amazing season,” Mark Olsen said. “This team showed me that anything is possible.”

Mark Olsen went on to thank the team’s home course, Klinger Lake County Club, for their support this season.

“Whenever you have an accomplishment like we just had, you don’t get there without the support of a lot of people. I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to everyone at Klinger Lake Country Club for allowing the Chiefs to play golf there,” Mark Olsen said. “Pat Hagerty has done so much to assist us on our journey to the State Championship that it is impossible to thank him enough. The members at Klinger Lake Country Club have basically adopted this group of players and treat us like family. There are many, many members who treat us like they really enjoy us being there and that is very much appreciated.”

Mark Olsen thanked a few individuals, as well.

“Over the years Chris Hamlin and Jim Riley have really gone out of their way to offer words of encouragement and make us feel like part of the Klinger Lake Country Club family. We are very blessed to be able to call Klinger Lake Country Club our home course and playing there every day has helped us develop into the team that we are today,” he said. “Without the daily challenges that Klinger Lake provides us, I am certain that we would not be the Division 4 State Champions today.”

Page 3 of 3 - Centreville’s Logan Heffner also competed at the finals as an individual, shooting a two-day score of 173.